Bought a 2004 R1200CLC a week ago, now it won't start

[rocketmanli]

Different bike, but an oilhead. Same basic principle. A Chris Harris video (no kids in the room..a few "F" bombs ).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P9UcXgethHI

 

[cycleman2]

Before you tear into the starter, check all the cables to the battery & starter, check for continuity on the wires and connections ( Ohm Meter ) Do a voltage drop test on the positive cable from the battery to the solenoid? When you push the start button on the bike, the voltage on this cable should stay the same as if you don't push the starter button. Any difference in voltage between pushing the starter and not pushing the starter indicates a bad cable. I've had this happen once and you need a digital Volt/Ohm meter to do this test as the voltage reading differences are very small.

Short out the starter, bypassing the solenoid. If starter turns over fine and bike starts then you've found your culprit.

Always do the simple stuff first, you'd be surprised how many times that finds the problem.

 

[globalrider]

Very true words.

That even applies to the gurus that one finds on the forums and that are praised by the masses. On the Porsche forum, there are a few. One that even runs a shop and preps race cars.

About a year after getting my 993, I wanted to rebuild the dual distributor. At the time, the only replacement parts available were the toothed belt and drive gear pin. The non-standard bearings were unobtainium and only available to Bosch. A standard bearing could be bought but the ID would have to be increased by 0.45 mm.

Well this forum guru and shop owner claimed to have rebuilt over 300 of these dual distributors, so you'd think he knows what he is doing, right? He also claimed to be able to replace the bearings (at $140 each and there are 3 of them). He would not disclose his source. Fair enough but I doubt he could get them.

Anyway, then I asked what type of bearings are used, ball bearing or angular contact bearing (I hadn't seen one yet), he said ball bearings. Wrongo! They are an angular contact bearing. A ball bearing would never last with the side load put on it by a tensioned Belleville washer. And they are a 7201-BE-2RS-AH01 angular contact bearing bearing which were finally made available a couple of years ago.

So when I hear "professional" or "guru", I usually go off running...fast.

 

[globalrider]

Do a voltage drop test on the positive cable from the battery to the solenoid? When you push the start button on the bike, the voltage on this cable should stay the same as if you don't push the starter button. Any difference in voltage between pushing the starter and not pushing the starter indicates a bad cable.

If memory serves me, the maximum allowable voltage drop is 0.5V and you will get a voltage drop even on a good cable. Unless of course you use welding cable and increase the cross sectional area.

And since the load varies as the engine turns over, so does the current and therefore voltage drop making it difficult to get a good reading on the DMM. One with peak hold would work.

 

[zhanngol]

@rocketmanli, thanks for those links. I think that if I go as far as to remove the starter, I may as well replace it with a new one given that it is only $60 delivered. The last thing I need is to question my cleaning job if things don't go well.

@cycleman2, that's interesting advice. Checking power is no problem, but I do have 2 questions ... Where is my solenoid? ... What do you mean by short out the starter?


General note, this is an amazing forum! The amount of advice here goes far beyond what I expected. I will definitely play a bit more before taking this to a shop.

 

[globalrider]

Where is my solenoid? ... What do you mean by short out the starter?

The solenoid is part of the starter and is attached to it.

You connect the two studs thereby bypassing the switch which is what a solenoid is. Do not short circuit to ground though. You also need to use heavy wire...small booster cables work. You can use a wrench, but that is amateur style.

 

[zhanngol]

Thanks GlobalRider, I think I get it. I will try to find some time tonight and report my findings in case people are curious.

 

[zhanngol]

So, to conclude this thread, I wanted to inform everyone that I replaced the starter and the bike works like a dream now. Replacing the starter wasn't overly difficult, but it took almost 2 weeks to receive the extra long torx sockets needed to reach one of the bolts on the starter. After about e hours of fussing around with the right tools, I eventually removed and reinstalled my starter. My battery is once again fully charged, and the bike starts beautifully.

I want to thank everyone for their help. This has been a great first experience on this forum.

 

[globalrider]

So, to conclude this thread, I wanted to inform everyone that I replaced the starter and the bike works like a dream now.

Don't throw the old one out. Chances are it only needs a few dollars in parts to rebuild it. It cost me about $5 to rebuild mine to better than new condition.

BMW R1150 GS Adventure Valeo Starter Failure


BMW R1150 GS Adventure Valeo Starter Rebuild